Spadina—Fort York

Spadina—Fort York is one of Toronto’s most densely populated ridings, stretching from the Toronto Islands north to Dundas Street and from Dufferin Street east to the Don Valley Parkway. Its roughly twelve square kilometres take in Chinatown, Kensington Market, Liberty Village, CityPlace, King West, Trinity Bellwoods, the Waterfront, the Distillery District, and the Entertainment District. The riding’s population had grown significantly in recent years, driven by high-rise condominium development. NDP incumbent Chris Glover had held the seat since 2018 and served during the 2022–2025 term as the party’s shadow minister for sport, with responsibilities covering technology, innovation, and democratic reform. He entered 2025 as the strong favourite in this progressive-leaning downtown riding.

Candidates

Chris Glover (NDP) — A former adjunct professor in social sciences at York University, Glover holds a PhD in Education with a focus on university costs and student debt. Before his 2018 election, he served two terms as a Toronto District School Board trustee for Etobicoke-Centre and sat on the Toronto Board of Health. During his time as MPP, he co-founded a community food program that grew to serve thousands of vulnerable community members weekly.

April Engelberg (Liberal) — A litigation lawyer at the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization, Engelberg has lived in Spadina—Fort York for a decade. She previously ran for Toronto City Council and has been a community advocate for improved transit, housing affordability, and access to green space in the riding.

Omar Farhat (Progressive Conservative) — A caucus relations manager in the premier’s office since 2023, Farhat has a background in public service, real estate, and his family’s business. He sought to bring the downtown riding into the PC column.

Patrick Macklem (Green Party) and Ron Shaw (None of the Above Direct Democracy Party) also ran.

Local Issues

The Ontario Place redevelopment was a flashpoint in this waterfront riding. The Ford government’s plan to lease the publicly owned lakefront site to Therme, an Austrian spa company, on a 95-year lease generated sustained opposition from residents and community groups. In late 2023, the province passed the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, which bypassed municipal planning processes, overrode the Environmental Assessment Act and the Heritage Act, and granted the infrastructure minister sweeping powers over construction at the site. Weekly protests had taken place since fall 2023, and a legal challenge by Ontario Place Protectors, arguing the legislation was unconstitutional, was dismissed by the court in 2024 on the question of standing. For residents of a riding with limited green space, the loss of public waterfront access to a private commercial venture was a deeply personal concern.

Housing affordability remained the central issue in a riding defined by its condo-tower skyline. Despite the density of new construction, affordable units were disappearing faster than they were being built. Tenants in older buildings faced above-guideline rent increases, while the removal of rent control on units built after November 2018 left newer tower residents without price protections.

The rapid population growth strained community infrastructure. Schools, community centres, and childcare spaces had not kept pace with the influx of families moving into new developments. Homelessness and the opioid crisis were daily realities in the riding’s downtown precincts, and residents pressed candidates on mental health services and supportive housing investments.